Prompt: From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement. How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observe:
During my second day with Mr. Varden at Westerly High School I observed his Physics 2 (H) class as well as his Physics 1 (CP) class. During the first period Mr. Varden and I were standing towards the front of the room while the students were shuffling in. I greeted each student but didn't introduce myself until the entire class was present. Mr. Varden introduced me to them and they jokingly explained how they had initially thought that I was his son. We all laughed and then I allowed them to ask me some questions about who I am and where I go to school. Once everyone was comfortable with me in the room, Mr. Varden was able to begin the lesson and perform the daily question (explained in reflection #1). They would be reviewing 2D kinematics for the day. Mr. Varden had prepared an investigation for them to do using PHET simulations from the University of Colorado. He had them work in groups and use the simulations to help review 2D kinematics problems. The students were very excited to use the computer simulations and play with the projectiles on the computer. During this investigation Mr. Varden circulated the room and helped any studenst that may have been struggling with the task. Everyone seemed to be very well behaved and motivated. At the end of the lesson Mr. Varden had the students volunteer to come to the front of the room and explain what they had done during the investigation. I was impressed with the order and control that Mr. Varden had throughout the lesson.
During second period (Physics 1 (CP)), I immediately noticed a change in the atmosphere within the classroom. These students were much less motivated and did not settle down and pay attention as easily as the first period students had. Mr. Varden began the class period with the "Daily Question" which definitely settled everyone down. He then explained how they would be performing a "Pop-corn" lab. Their challenge was to figure out how many kernels of popcorn would be required to fill the entire physics classroom. In doing so they needed to keep significant digits in mind and needed to use what they knew about unit conversions to solve the problem. They immediately were engaged in the lesson and were excited to proceed. They worked in groups and Mr. Varden and I circulated the room as we had previously done. We tried not to offer them too many hints so that they would have to engage in a problem solving process to solve the problem. I was very impressed that Mr. Varden was able to engage an entire class that initially seemed uninterested in being in class.
Reflect:
As I reflect on my second experience observing Mr. Varden's class, I realize that he definitely has complete control over his classes. They all respect him and seem to want to behave in his classroom. He also seems to know exactly how to engage his students. He presents the physics material very enthusiastically and is always smiling and he creates labs and investigations that he knows his students will be excited to perform. I think that student engagement has a lot to do with the content of the lesson and the way that it is presented to them. I also think that students pick up on the enthusiasm of a teacher. A student won't be excited to learn from a teacher that isn't excited to teach. Mr. Varden definitely loves his job and loves teaching and his students are well aware of that. I can definitely learn a lot from Mr. Varden about engaging my future students. I am also still very amazed at how effective the "daily question" is in forcing students to leave everything that happened at lunch or in the hall at the door. They quiet down immediately when Mr. Varden takes out the daily question bin and they get very excited to see what the question will be because they really want to win extra credit points.
Student engagement is definitely an important aspect of teaching and it will be a necessity in my future teaching. I want to make sure that all of my students are engaged in every one of my lessons and I want to be constatntly changing my daily teaching strategies to make sure that the class doesn't feel stagnant. In my future teaching I will employ many of the same strategies that Mr. Varden employs in his classroom. I think that by designing labs and investigations that allow students to work together towards a common goal you are much more likely to achieve a proper amount of student engagement and enthusiasm. I will also always focus on making my enthusiasm about physics and teaching obvious to my students. I am definitely learning a lot from Mr. Varden.
Observe:
During my second day with Mr. Varden at Westerly High School I observed his Physics 2 (H) class as well as his Physics 1 (CP) class. During the first period Mr. Varden and I were standing towards the front of the room while the students were shuffling in. I greeted each student but didn't introduce myself until the entire class was present. Mr. Varden introduced me to them and they jokingly explained how they had initially thought that I was his son. We all laughed and then I allowed them to ask me some questions about who I am and where I go to school. Once everyone was comfortable with me in the room, Mr. Varden was able to begin the lesson and perform the daily question (explained in reflection #1). They would be reviewing 2D kinematics for the day. Mr. Varden had prepared an investigation for them to do using PHET simulations from the University of Colorado. He had them work in groups and use the simulations to help review 2D kinematics problems. The students were very excited to use the computer simulations and play with the projectiles on the computer. During this investigation Mr. Varden circulated the room and helped any studenst that may have been struggling with the task. Everyone seemed to be very well behaved and motivated. At the end of the lesson Mr. Varden had the students volunteer to come to the front of the room and explain what they had done during the investigation. I was impressed with the order and control that Mr. Varden had throughout the lesson.
During second period (Physics 1 (CP)), I immediately noticed a change in the atmosphere within the classroom. These students were much less motivated and did not settle down and pay attention as easily as the first period students had. Mr. Varden began the class period with the "Daily Question" which definitely settled everyone down. He then explained how they would be performing a "Pop-corn" lab. Their challenge was to figure out how many kernels of popcorn would be required to fill the entire physics classroom. In doing so they needed to keep significant digits in mind and needed to use what they knew about unit conversions to solve the problem. They immediately were engaged in the lesson and were excited to proceed. They worked in groups and Mr. Varden and I circulated the room as we had previously done. We tried not to offer them too many hints so that they would have to engage in a problem solving process to solve the problem. I was very impressed that Mr. Varden was able to engage an entire class that initially seemed uninterested in being in class.
Reflect:
As I reflect on my second experience observing Mr. Varden's class, I realize that he definitely has complete control over his classes. They all respect him and seem to want to behave in his classroom. He also seems to know exactly how to engage his students. He presents the physics material very enthusiastically and is always smiling and he creates labs and investigations that he knows his students will be excited to perform. I think that student engagement has a lot to do with the content of the lesson and the way that it is presented to them. I also think that students pick up on the enthusiasm of a teacher. A student won't be excited to learn from a teacher that isn't excited to teach. Mr. Varden definitely loves his job and loves teaching and his students are well aware of that. I can definitely learn a lot from Mr. Varden about engaging my future students. I am also still very amazed at how effective the "daily question" is in forcing students to leave everything that happened at lunch or in the hall at the door. They quiet down immediately when Mr. Varden takes out the daily question bin and they get very excited to see what the question will be because they really want to win extra credit points.
Student engagement is definitely an important aspect of teaching and it will be a necessity in my future teaching. I want to make sure that all of my students are engaged in every one of my lessons and I want to be constatntly changing my daily teaching strategies to make sure that the class doesn't feel stagnant. In my future teaching I will employ many of the same strategies that Mr. Varden employs in his classroom. I think that by designing labs and investigations that allow students to work together towards a common goal you are much more likely to achieve a proper amount of student engagement and enthusiasm. I will also always focus on making my enthusiasm about physics and teaching obvious to my students. I am definitely learning a lot from Mr. Varden.